LONDON (Reuters) - British house prices dropped unexpectedly last month for the first time since March although they finished the year higher than in December 2023, figures from mortgage lender Halifax showed on Tuesday.

Halifax, part of Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY), Britain's biggest mortgage lender, said house prices fell 0.2% in December after a 1.2% rise in November, and were 3.3% higher on the year - lower than the 4.2% rise forecast in a Reuters poll of economists.

Economists had forecast house prices would rise 0.4% in December alone.

While rival mortgage lender Nationwide reported a 0.7% monthly house price rise for December, Bank of England data showed mortgage approvals - a leading indicator for prices - had fallen to their lowest since August in November.

Halifax said house prices in the second half of 2024 had been boosted by falls in mortgage rates, ongoing real wage growth and some buyers seeking to purchase ahead of an increase in property purchase taxes in April 2025.

"Providing employment conditions don't deteriorate markedly from a more recent softening, buyer demand should hold up relatively well and, taking all this into account, we're continuing to anticipate modest house price growth this year," Halifax's head of mortgages, Amanda Bryden, said.